Allegedly Drunk, Boeing 737 Pilot Passes Out in Cockpit

Well, THIS isn���t good.

According to a variety of news outlets, including CNN, the pilot of a Sunwing Airlines Boeing 737 who passed out in the cockpit just prior to takeoff in Canada was arrested by Calgary police on a charge of having control of an aircraft while impaired. The incident occurred this past Saturday.

Capt. Miroslav Gronych, 37, a Slovak national employed in Canada on a work visa, was ���behaving oddly before he became unconscious in the cockpit,��� according to police. Tests later revealed that Gronych had a blood alcohol level three times the legal limit of .08.

The CNN report details that the gate crew noticed strange behavior on the part of the pilot, and notified the co-pilot, who later found Gronych passed out in the pilot���s seat.

���It had all the potential for a disaster, but I'll tell you this much -- the likelihood of a pilot on a major airline like this actually being able to take off when they're impaired like that is pretty slim, because there's a lot of checks and balances," said Calgary police spokesman Staff Sgt. Paul Stacey.

���There's the other flight crew and there's gate crew and they're all about safety.���

The scheduled flight from Calgary to Cancun, Mexico, with stops along the way in Regina and Winnipeg, was carrying 99 passengers and six crew members. After a brief delay, the plane took off with a different pilot.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large